Why are we more exhausted than ever?

PEOPLE ARE TIRED. LIKE, REALLY TIRED. AS EVIDENCED by recent trends such as "Quiet Quitting," "Coffee Badging," "Bare Minimum Mondays," and most of all, "The Great Resignation" - when over 47 million Americans voluntarily resigned from their positions-people are feeling a strain on more than just their work calendars; they're feeling it on their spirits.

- EMILY BALLESTEROS

We're now in the era of "The Great Exhaustion," what writer and computer science professor Cal Newport has called a time when people are looking to re-establish their relationship with work in order to reduce their pervasive sense of drain.

People feel so fatigued that they are cutting out activities that used to be commonplace and low-stress, like working out and going to the supermarket. Factor in recovering from the pandemic, inflation, and global stressors, and you've got a recipe for complete physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion.

So why are levels of exhaustion increasing? The three factors that are commonly overlooked but are contributing the most are: unsustainable lifestyles, exposure to stress outside of our control, and financial insecurity. We've normalized these facets of our lives. But this normalization has caused us to disregard their impact on our physical and mental well-being.